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In this day and age, job roles can’t be defined, and many sectors are adopting dynamic job roles as a standard. Construction management is one such role that requires a dynamic individual to run it due to its multipurpose role requirements. A construction manager should be able to do the job of an onsite construction supervisor and the financial capabilities of a corporate manager as well. A construction manager should be able to schedule work effectively. Two forms of scheduling are done, the first type of scheduling is planned scheduling that is done before work starting and the second type of scheduling that is done during execution of the construction of the site which is called actual scheduling. A good construction manager should be able to have little to differentiate between actual scheduling and planned scheduling, there are exceptions to this rule in the form natural disasters and other man-made issues, but overall the difference in the two shouldn’t be too huge. So in a way, the construction manager takes up the role of project monitoring to ensure that deadlines are met and that no delay occurs.

The other big responsibility that a construction manager has is quality management. Construction sites are filled a lot of different operations happening at the same time. A construction manager should be able to address the quality issues of various facets of the construction site and ensure that the workers have not cut corners to finish the job quickly. He or she should be able to answer any question regarding quality and specifications that may arise during the construction of the site. They should be able to give a detailed account of what is happening at the site to the management if the need arises and be able to teach the workers about quality standards that need to be upheld to avoid an audit nightmare.

Talking about audits, a construction manager should be able to face audits as well administer them. The corporate side of huge construction companies makes sure that their construction manager is always on their feet ensuring that not only are the projects being done on time but also on done as per the standards of the company. Construction managers themselves conduct audits on a particular site to make sure that no shortcuts were taken in any of the operations and that the constructed building is according to the initial plans that were put forth by the site engineer.

Construction management is of the need of the hour, he or she is an individual who understands the dynamic nature of a construction site and can manoeuvre through corporate challenges as well.

Laying the right foundation for your structure can make all the difference. Before laying the foundation, the site engineers will test the soil to determine the safe bearing capacity of the soil; the safe bearing capacity is the total amount of weight per unit area that can be supported by the soil. If the building or structure is too heavy and exceeds this safe bearing capacity, then it is likely that the build will sink like a ship in the water.

To check the safe bearing capacity of the soil, site engineers will check for soil properties. But these days site engineers will get the help of a soil investigation engineer to do the dirty work. With the advancement of technology, drilling to find out the soil properties in the different layers of the earth’s surface or strata has become much easier. The soil investigation engineer will drill in the ground to about 6” to find out the properties for every two metres, this gives site engineers ample amount of data to work with when it comes to laying down a solid foundation.

Once the soil investigation is done, the soil investigation engineer will compile a report that will have all the necessary information along with a mark of approval. The soil investigation report will have a certain safe bearing capacity value. For example, if it is 35 T/m2, then the site engineer will ensure that the build doesn’t exceed this weight per square metre limit, to ensure that no mishap occurs.

The soil investigation report will also shed light on whether there is fill present at the site, the occurrence of fill at a site is due to someone previously digging the site and refilling the site with soil. Sites with fill need to be excavated before on a site with fill has a meagre safe bearing capacity.

Once the foundation is laid over the earth’s surface, backfilling needs to be done to give the foundation an extra boost of strength to bear the weight and pressure of the structure. Backfilling is the process of covering the foundation with firmly squished soil for about a foot of thickness. The type of soil that is used for backfilling is special because the soil is laid out in the form of horizontal slabs that have been squished together in wet conditions to ensure that no air voids being present. Backfilling is said to be as important as the foundation itself.

The foundation needs to be done well so that it can live up to its functional as well as literal meaning.